ad never felt. Nevertheless, the king of beasts being at a distance,
and occupied, and Staines a brave man, and out of sight, he kept
his ground and watched, and by those means saw a sight never to be
forgotten. The lion rose up, and stood in the sun incredibly beautiful
as well as terrible. He was not the mangy hue of the caged lion, but a
skin tawny, golden, glossy as a race-horse, and of exquisite tint that
shone like pure gold in the sun; his eye a lustrous jewel of richest
hue, and his mane sublime. He looked towards the wood, and uttered a
full roar. This was so tremendous that the horse shook all over as if in
an ague, and began to lather. Staines recoiled, and his flesh crept, and
the Hottentot went under water, and did not emerge for ever so long.

After a pause, the lion roared again, and all the beasts and birds of
prey seemed to know the meaning of that terrible roar. Till then the
place had been a solitude, but now it began to fill in the strangest
way, as if the lord of the forest could call all his subjects together
with a trumpet roar: first came two lion cubs, to whom, in fact, the
roar had been addressed. The lion rubbed himself several times against
the eland, but did not eat a morsel, and the cubs went in and feasted
on the prey. The lion politely and paternally drew back, and watched the
young people enjoying themselves.

Meantime approached, on tiptoe, jackals and hyenas, but dared not come
too near. Slate-colored vultures settled at a little distance, but not
a soul dared interfere with the cubs; they saw the lion was acting
sentinel, and they knew better than come near.

After a time, papa feared for the digestion of those brats, or else his
own mouth watered; for he came up, knocked them head over heels with his
velvet paw, and they took the gentle hint, and ran into the wood double
quick.

Then the lion began tearing away at the eland, and bolting huge morsels
greedily. This made the rabble's mouth water. The hyenas, and jackals,
and vultures formed a circle ludicrous to behold, and that circle kept
narrowing as the lion tore away at his prey. They increased in number,
and at last hunger overcame prudence; the rear rank shoved on the front,
as amongst men, and a general attack seemed imminent.

Then the lion looked up at these invaders, uttered a reproachful growl,
and went at them, patting them right and left, and knocking them over.
He never touched a vulture, nor indeed did he kill an an